ARTO Purchases Former Sam Levitz Warehouse for $8.6 Million
Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR closed June 12 on the former Sam Levitz warehouse at 3430 E. 36th St. in Tucson for $8.6 million.
ARTO, a Southern California-based maker of handcrafted tile, brick and stone surfaces, purchased the 129,394-square-foot, freestanding building. Steve Cohen and Paul Hooker, both principals and industrial specialists at C&W | PICOR, represented the seller in the transaction.
Sam Levitz served Tucson for over 70 years before announcing its closure and liquidation sale in 2024. The shift to online retail and big-box chains like Amazon, Costco, IKEA and Wayfair made it increasingly difficult for large-format furniture showrooms to operate profitably, as foot traffic declined, credit tightened and shoppers grew more price-sensitive. While it marks the end of a long run for a Tucson institution, the property is now in the hands of a company that shares a similar spirit: family-owned, craft-driven, and committed to quality over convenience.
Founded in 1966 by Arto Alajian, a classically trained artist born in Alexandria, Egypt, ARTO has spent nearly 60 years making tile, brick, and architectural elements by hand at their Los Angeles County facility. Every product, whether concrete tile, ceramic tile, glazed brick veneer, clay, artazzo, porcelain, or natural stone, is crafted by a team of about 80 people working with concrete, terra-cotta, and ceramic.
Alajian passed away in 2014, but his sons Armen and Vod continue to run the company out of the same Southern California factory their father started.
ARTO serves architects, designers, distributors and dealers across residential and commercial projects, from kitchens and bathrooms to large-scale commercial and exterior applications, and sells its products across the United States and internationally. The acquisition marks an expansion of ARTO’s manufacturing operations into the Tucson market. The building’s warehouse, distribution, and showroom and manufacturing sections are well-suited for ARTO’s needs.
The transaction also benefited from a new federal incentive created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which allows manufacturers to fully expense the qualifying “shell” portion of a building used for production in the first year it is placed in service.
Armen first walked the building in summer 2024, while it was still operating as a furniture store, and the visit stuck with him. He returned that December while spending Christmas in Tucson and arranged a Sunday walkthrough with Cohen to take a closer look at the property.
As the deal progressed, he credits both Cohen and Hooker for consistently making the site available for architects, consultants and inspectors, which was especially important to him as an out-of-town owner.
With the Tucson acquisition, ARTO is now planting roots in a new market and bringing nearly 60 years of craftsmanship along with them.
Image courtesy Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR
